When we walked into the screening hall for the movie Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain; there was a hint of restlessness in the air. After all this was a movie about one of the largest manmade disasters in the world. Till date, Union Carbide has not tendered an apology neither have the successive governments tried to make things right.

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

It was akin to walking back in time, as the movie started. Rajpal Yadav essays the role of a laborer struggling to make ends meet. His on-screen spouse, Tannishtha Chatterjee, plays the role of a loving and understanding wife very well. It was very disorienting when I met her in person and her Oxford English threw me off balance!

The movie aptly portrays life in a small town called Bhopal. There is no masala, there are no songs. The movie is dark, it’s true and the director has left no stone unturned to make the viewer cringe at every scene.

The film is a ticking time bomb from the word ‘go’; and it’s nothing less than a thriller. The outcome of the movie is something that has been documented enough and sure as hell; the tragedy did happen. You will cringe at the sights and sounds; how the entire state machinery washed its hands off something as monumental as this.

Kal Penn plays his part of a journalist with ease and adds some comic relief; which is surreal at best because there is a bigger game in motion already.

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

One thing about the movie which was in stark contrast to public perception is the portrayal of Andersson played by Martin Sheen. He’s shown as a wily businessman who goofed up big time. But the callousness is evident, when, even after all the deaths; all he was really concerned was protecting his public image; the mark of an unethical businessman.

When asked about the reaction in the US about the movie, the director exclaimed: “Anger!”. It’s bound to happen when people worldwide realize the tremendous cover up involved at multiple levels on the part of Union Carbide. If this had happened in Virginia as had been planned at the time the disaster happened, you could’ve imagined the legal implications as well.

So how much did Union Carbide finally pay in settlement? $470 million dollars and $2000 per corpse.

IndiBlogger had partnered with Bhopal: A Prayer For The Rain for a private screening of the film for bloggers in Mumbai.

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I landed in Gujarat the day Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by our Prime Minister. It was 2nd October 2014 and Gandhidham in Kutch District railway station was spotless with many volunteers cleaning the platform and the area around the railway station with brooms.

I was not able to listen to the PM’s first edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ but the message was loud and clear – the way Gandhiji made every Indian believe that they were part of the freedom movement just by wearing khadi, our PM made every Indian an agent to country’s cleanliness and eventual development. If one could clean their surroundings and sustain it, they were part of a nationwide movement! A great idea but was it really going to change us?

The initial messages were a plea to keep clean. But this advertisement made an attempt to change the approach towards the campaign.

It was no longer cool to be dirty and the thought resonated – thodi sharam karlo, soch swacch karlo! I could see people act repulsed when someone littered. I’ve seen a few even clap at those who spat on the road. Gandhigiri had just become the common man’s cause, and towards development.

Renowned ad guru, singer and lyricist Prasoon Joshi launched an initiative, Clean Sweep, taking further the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan on 25th November 2014. The thought behind this was very simple:

Cricket is not just a sport but a religion in India. It is a game played with unbridled enthusiasm in the gullies across Mumbai. Unfortunately, a lot of these streets are littered with garbage, denying children the space to play. ‘Clean Sweep‘ aims to create awareness on the shrinking space for kids to play thanks to garbage that is dumped in those areas.

Being an active member of the Swachh Bharat Initiative, Prasoon Joshi, picked a location and armed himself with a broom. He had taken it upon himself to clean up a locality in Lalbaug where garbage was preventing children from playing cricket. The activity was finished with a game of underarm gully cricket in that very location for the youngsters of the colony.

The ministry of information and broadcasting on 2nd October released the audio track “Swachh Bharat Ka Irada Kar Liya Hum Ne” composed by Prasoon Joshi and sung by Kailash Kher. The song, specially prepared for the Swachh Bharat Mission, was composed in a very short span of time.

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It was the same pleasant weather in Bangalore; something we’ve always enjoyed everytime we stepped foot in the city. The entire team had grouped a day before the event in the Bangalore office to go through the meet agenda. But like every blogger meet we usually end up forgetting the agenda; so leaves us thinking why we have these brainstorming sessions. And we don’t even need an excuse to drink actually!

The meet was a culmination of more than a month of hardwork by all the stake holders prior to the meet. The video showcased at the meet was shot by Anoop; which was not just well received but received a lot of mentions on twitter as well.

IndiBus made a roaring debut with more than 60 bloggers using it to reach the venue and back. Many bloggers liked the fact that they could meet and talk blogs much before the meet and get to know each other better. The super fast ultra mega deluxe blogger meet luxury express was however late by an hour for the blogger meet thanks to super-fast traffic in Bangalore on the Sunday afternoon.

Akshaya Patra after hosting a very successful contest on IndiBlogger where each blog post fed 50 children made a grand entry into the hearts of the blogosphere with a MASSIVE blogger meet aimed to improving awareness about the noble efforts of the NGO and the lakhs of children who are given nourishing food every day. The success of this endeavour cannot be emphasised enough; because when they started back in June 2000 they were feeling close to 1500 children. Now they are feeling more than 1.2 million children daily making them the world’s largest NGO to implement the mid-day meal programme.

The meet had more than 270 registrations with bloggers from all over the country coming down to Bangalore to meet and network. The meet had bloggers from all walks of life – from homemakers, software engineers, government officials, entrepreneurs to even school students.

Based on suggestions from Lakshmi Rajan, we changed the format of the blogger introductions which went off very smoothly thanks to the system built especially for Blogger Meets. 60 random bloggers were chosen and had 30 seconds to introduce themselves. The screen also showed their blog link for others to see and refer. The bloggers who took more than 30 seconds to introduce themselves were ceremoniously sent to jail. All bloggers who introduced themselves got a photobook specially printed for bloggers by the bloggers. The photographs were taken by Naveen and Sanjeeb.

Next up was the lunch served which was also the same food that children eat everyday. There was bise bela bath and sweet pongal served with some namkeen. Bloggers got to experience for themselves the quality and nutrition value of the food served.

The time tested activity of Live and Let comment then commenced. A few first timers also asked what the chart papers were for and we were only too happy to respond, “You shall soon find out!” Soon the bloggers were seen sketching some funny stuff on everyone’s back. Some were risqué too! Rashmi from IndiBlogger was even proposed to by two bloggers. Why they would want to marry the crazy sketch pen lady of course is a discussion that warrants an #IndiTweetMeet ASAP!

This was followed with a discussion by Akshaya Patra who shared their journey as an organization that is doing social good. A lot of bloggers also shared suggestions for incorporation into their activities. The good thing about the session was that it was yet again proven that the blogging community is always there to support noble causes and would welcome any initiative with open arms. Bloggers also emphasised that they would like to have a long term association with them.

The final session included group discussions moderated by bloggers themselves. Issues ranging from online harassment to technology were discussed by them; and some even taking notes on their iPads and tablets.

This was followed with a team introduction; as usual the person introducing others forgot to introduce himself. This time the victim was Renie, but he really needs no introduction. He is the guy with the porcupine hair; we all know that now don’t we?

After another successful blogger meet in Bangalore, the team headed to The Higher Taste, an exclusive restaurant in the ISKCON premises where vegetarian gourmet food is served. Some patrons of the restaurant later complained about the empty buffet counters.

We thank Bangalore bloggers for being as hospitable as ever and Akshaya Patra for the wonderful work they are doing making every blogger in India proud to be associated with them.

The blogging community is indeed committed to bringing social change in India!

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Nai Dilli happened after more than two years and it was one of the most awaited events in the blogging community here especially since this is also the last blogger meet of the decade! It was cold as hell and the week running up the meet was one hell of a party!

This IndiBlogger meet was an initiative amongst many others where IndiBlogger gives back. Every year due to the cold wave many homeless die due for lack of adequate clothing. Blanket Of Relief, a unique initiative IndiBlogger partnered with for the cause raised more than INR 2 lac in a short span with help coming from all circles. BASSFoundation also held a concert at Zook; a popular pub in Saket as a charity fund raiser. Thanks to their diligence and efforts, the homeless will have a warmer winter this year. Such initiatives reiterate our commitment to give back to the society. We wish the team behind Blanket Of Relief all the best; and hope they carry this forward for many more years.

Religare Arts Gallery was a very cordial venue which was able to seat more than 100 people in the hall very comfortably. Had it not been for their support, like Anoop Johnson exclaimed during the blogger meet; we would probably have had to do this in the basement of Palika Bazaar. The Religare Arts Initiative was established on the founding vision of creating a 360 degree platform for arts, to provide contemporary art a larger integrated voice and make art a more transparent, relevant and effective force in the society. Mr. Mukesh Panika, Director of Religare Art also shared with everyone their commitment to the blogging community in India.

Mydala.com one of India’s leading group buying websites was also one of our partners for the event. Every blogger got a 500 rupee voucher as well which can be freely redeemed on the website. A quiz by myDala set the mood right with questions like “Why did he throw the watch out of the window!” It was highly interactive and the blogger who gave right or most interesting answers were given hampers from Cinnabon; the Gift Hamper partner. GuitarMonk one of the social partners is one of the leading music brands in India comprising a label, publishing and gifting as well.

The introductions set the mood right; with everyone getting their chance to introduce themselves to the community. There were working professionals, mothers, students and bloggers from all walks of life like any other blogger meet. One of the firsts for IndiBlogger – #IndiDelhi was trending on twitter for close to 6 hours during the blogger meet; thanks to all bloggers who were part of this to spread the joy of blogging to the entire country!

The Live and Let Comment; one of IndiBlogger’s trademark activities had bloggers become 16 again, like Purba Ray later excitedly mentioned when the session was on. We threw in a dash of creativity this time with bloggers having to draw each other’s caricatures on the sheet. Anand, an artist from the gallery also drew many caricatures for bloggers.

The meet also saw the launch of an exclusive contest for Delhi Bloggers – The Bad Fashion Days contest. Brandmile, our fashion partner at the meet also announced a contest where one who brings the maximum friends on the brand mile network would win an iPad! Brandmile is a members only exclusive private shopping club in India.

One of the highlights of the meet was a very interactive session that was moderated by Prateek Shah; a blogger where the discussion ranged from the sharing culture in Delhi, to how Delhi Bloggers can make a difference to the community at large. The best contributors got to donate three blankets on behalf of Blanket of Relief. Like every IndiBlogger meet, it concluded with a lot of camaraderie, hugs, numbers exchanged and cheers all around. The IndiBlogger team, Addy and the Blanket of Relief team later head to Zook for the concert by BASSFoundation to do what they do best. Drink beer.

Cheers to the hospitality extended by Delhi Bloggers, Dilli ki Sardi, the butter chicken, the happy hours and blogging!

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I decided promotions and appraisals are not for me. I like to describe myself as “Half crazy, half sane. I like chicken and would probably marry one. They don’t cry and they don’t crib when you get drunk”.

That pretty much sums up what I am. Oh one more thing, I am the sales guy who also blogs!

Born in Chennai, and then it leads to a confusing discussion on where I am actually from.

I’ll be based out of Mumbai! See you there and everywhere online! You can follow the links below to know more.